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Friday, December 31 2010
That clock really knows how to party
Auld Lang Syne (in pentatonic Scottish folk melody)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
| Posted by SenTimMental AT 10:12AM | 0 Comments |  |
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Monday, December 27 2010
Bah!
Prune-eating readers of this blog (since I haven't been posting regularly, you're going to have to take care of yourselves) will have no doubt noticed a certain amount of populist sentiment on my part about wine prices. The cost of production of a bottle of wine varies based on technology applied, the cost of crops (bunch thinning and winnowing at the picking table increase raw material costs) and such, but the cost of producing a bottle is in the end both finite and not stratospherically high. Where transgressively high wine prices come from is not an honest mark-up on a finite cost, but rather from artificially driven demand on a limited supply of product. While this is nice work if you can get it, at the end of the day it can often mean that when a winery figures out a gimmick to increase demand, they can get some 'stupid money' chasing a limited supply of their wine, driving the costs out of sight. I find this irritating.
A self-serving attitude? Well, of course. After all, Winexpert sells consumer winemaking products that allow you to make single-vineyard Hyper-Premium wines at five or six dollars a bottle, packaging included. But it goes back beyond that, way to the dawn of my own personal quest for wine knowledge, the early 1980's. I was learning about wine and the journey took me to some wonderful places. Back then we were getting great bottles of wine out of California, Australia, France, Germany and Italy, from prestigious producers, for the equivalent of a few hours pay--we lined up every year to buy a precious few bottles of first-growth Bordeaux and still had grocery money left over. We got a wine education that today is nearly priceless, because times changed, and as the economy boomed, a wine bubble developed--a great big bubble.
| Posted by Culturally Relative Tim AT 10:30AM | 8 Comments | |
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Wednesday, December 22 2010
Grinch, displaying enlarged heart
Ahh, I love this time of year. We're technically in Winter, but the solstice has turned, and I start looking forward to the days getting longer and the promise of Spring. In the meantime, let there be feasts! Let there be merriment! Let there be a fireplace to gather with family and friends, to share laughter, fellowship and that most precious of gifts, time for each other.
My favorite cup--full of cheer
The cats have decorated our Jul tree, and hung their stockings by the chimney (with care and hopeful notes about Tuna and shiny bits of tinfoil). We're readying our traditional day of sleeping late, wearing pajamas and bathrobes all day and feasting on crustaceans. On Christmas eve we always watch the 1951 Alistair Sims version of A Christmas Carol (haven't missed once in 27 years) and we'll toast with Tiny Tim, 'God bless us, everyone' and bellow along with Scrooge, 'Leaving me no choice but to raise your salary', then we cackle like mad and toast again. I'm really getting very good at moaning along with Marley as well, although Spot doesn't really appreciate it and tries to cover my mouth with his paws.
I must have been very good this year because I've already gotten everything I could wish for: I'm in good health, I'm married to the love of my life, I have an interesting and challenging job to do, friends and family to enjoy and the prospect of another year of all these things ahead of me.
| Posted by The Vandergrinch AT 11:31PM | 2 Comments | |
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Friday, December 10 2010
Hey, who's the guy in the dress with the Chateau-neuf du Pape?
Noodling about the interwebs, and apropos of only my own ongoing interest in winey news, I present the following. First, from the 'When Can I Get One of Those' files, Walmart to Install Vending Machines for Wine:
Dangit, they're always out of Gruner Veltliner!
The retailer has received a green light from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to put wine kiosks in stores across the state, CBS Pittsburgh reports.
The machines will reportedly have more than 50 varieties of wine. But before you buy, you'll need to swipe your driver's license and puff into a Breathalyzer.
| Posted by Newsman Tim AT 3:31PM | 0 Comments | |
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Friday, December 3 2010
The view out my window for the last nine weeks
Finished my final Limited Edition lecture last night in Pennsylvania, for Mr. Steve's. A great event, but now I'm utterly bushed and on my way back. If anyone needs me, I'll be asleep until Monday.
But lo, all this was for a reason: cut-off for pre-ordering the fantastic five (Austrian Gruner Veltliner, Italian Primitivo, Australian Shiraz-Viognier, Pacifica White and Portuguese Douro Tinto) is December 10th, and after that you're out of luck. Order early, order often!
| Posted by Tired Tim AT 6:59AM | 1 Comment | |
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Comments
BenT
Posted 3 years ago
And the wine trade is changing underneath the feet of the chasers of parkers perfects and lafites. More and more, wine buyers appear to be buying wine that is both ready to drink and affordable by every day standards. The schism between those who can afford a blue chip wine and those who don't want to has never been greater.
Tim
Posted 3 years ago
Good point Ben: I recall feeling like wine merchants were my allies in the journey, and now it's like they're conspirators to boost prices and deny me access to wines I can now only read about.
Luckily, there's still emerging regions and iconoclastic producers, and, of course, Fred Franzia putting a lot of folks out of business. Heh.
John
Posted 3 years ago
These wines are more "investments" than beverages, I think. You buy them at top-dollar well before their ready to consume, then cellar them and hope nothing goes wrong. Then, when they're aged properly (and you can't tell this unless you the case to sample) you sell them at auction or through a private sale.
For me, the best wines I've had never cost more than USD 150. It's a beverage, not an investment.
Tim
Posted 3 years ago
Excellent point, John.
That's what causes bubbles, like the terrible real estate conundrum the world is in at this moment: a house stopped being the place you lived and became an investment or an ATM or a casino bet--people were buying them on spec, hoping to sell them down the line for more, hoping it would always go up.
When wine stops being sunlight and poetry captured in a glass and starts becoming a speculative investment, then it's no longer wine: it's a way for one fool to await a greater one to buy a vaporous nuance of false promises.
Norm
Posted 3 years ago
Listen, I like your style of writing. I've been a subscriber to WineMaker magazine for several years and take much delight in your musings. (The Wine Wizard is my other favorite author in the magazine. She's incredible.)
I just read your blog "Refreshment Beverages and Cultural Relativism." I was particularly delighted in your explanation of the drinks offered to Christ at His crucifixion. I had heard or read something about that at some point in the past but it wasn't clear. You have provided a clearer picture of that event.
About your conundrum concerning the marketing tactics for alcopops. I also have reservations - but I also enjoy a quatrain of those occasionally. Tim, are you old enough to remember the catch-line for Pepsi Cola several decades ago? The admonition, "Now it's Pepsi for those who think young" was set to a contemporary melody and intentionally promoted at the young set. It subsequently captured an older generation who wanted to be hip. I'm certain similar trends continue to occur with other beverages.
In conclusion, your statement, 'Whatever wine you like to drink is good wine. Nobody can be the arbiter of your personal taste' has a great deal of merit and I embrace that philosophy. I've tried, I really have, but I'm just not fond of white wines in general. I dearly love hearty, beefy reds. My favorite is Australian shiraz but several others also rank high on my list. So, I will continue to drink what I like while exploring for others.
Oh, I received a bottle of Barefoot Moscato for Christmas. That was a sweet treat and enjoyable but not something I want to indulge in on a regular basis.
Thanks for sharing,
Norm Kirkland
Tim
Posted 3 years ago
Thanks Norm!
Alison is one of my favorite writers as well: she's not only good in print, she's an articulate and passionate winemaker in person, with the cutest little baby you could imagine--such a good soul.
I'm not sure abut the Pepsi campaign, but it's de rigeur these days: appeal to people's aspirations, not their true needs.
As for the arbiter of personal tastes, never worry about your (or anyone else' for that matter) taste: 'My fathers house has many mansions' applies to all manner of things.
Cheers,
Tim
Bent
Posted 3 years ago
Tim -
I don't know if you have an opinion on this - I would assume you do, though-;-)
I started noticing a change in wine mercantile at the same time I noticed a shift in how restaurants are re-leveling. It used to be high-end linen service coupled with a wine list that was studded with Names and Points - increasingly, wine lists are reflecting the idiosyncrasies of the chef - cheaper bottles meant to match with the food - more as an effort to offer that experience to diners than to sell a 200 dollar bottle, marked up, because of pedigree.
I have paid those prices and really appreciate more and more restaurants in Portland Seattle and Chicago that are offering good wine, coupled with someone on staff who can lead you to a good bottle, less based on what you can afford, and more based on personal preference.
You mentioned bubbles, and I agree - its not just the investment bubble of bluechip wines, but the purveyor bubble. Every high-end restaurant felt the last two years, economically, and smart chefs (including Ferran Adria and Grant Achatz) are opening cheaper restaurants - in part to have more freedom, but also to continue to compete in a changing gustatory climate. I really think this re-leveling is also impacting the wine trade.
Tim
Posted 3 years ago
What, me have an opinion? @@
That's a very cogent observation. There are restaurants out there that instead of riding the four P's (Points, Prestige, Parker and Prices) are treating the wine list as a compliment, and as you note, a condiment to the menu.
I was recently at the Four Seasons in Vancouver, and while Chartwell, their restaurant has always been a bastion of stuffy expensiveness, the bar has a great new menu and a wine list that reflects a desire to allow customers to match wine with food. They even have half-price bottles on Sundays, such a blindingly brilliant idea I had trouble stopping at two bottles.
I can hardly wait for the re-leveling to reach all the way down through the trade. We could be living in winey times again, despite the pessimism I expressed in my blog.
I could stand that.